


You're My Home

by wolfish_willow



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, POV Jonathan Byers, Slice of Life, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29063823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfish_willow/pseuds/wolfish_willow
Summary: During a quiet dinner one evening, Jonathan asks what week he should request off for the Harrington Family Reunion, only it seems like they won't have to worry about it this year.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	You're My Home

**Author's Note:**

> Written for WillowRose99's 300 follower celebration.
> 
> For the prompt: "You're my home."
> 
> I've had this one sitting around for a bit, but wanted my fandom trumps hate fic to be the first thing I posted in 2021. Not beta'd, feel free to let me know if I missed any typos!

Jonathan set their plates on the table, smiling in thanks when he saw Steve had already poured him a glass of water. The domesticity should have lost its novelty by now, he thought, but it hadn't. There were days where things—life—felt a little quiet. More than he'd expected it could after years of the opposite. Sometimes it was boring, but he was beyond happy that the world had quieted down enough they _could_ be bored.

"Looks great," Steve said, wasting no time before shoving a forkful of pasta in his mouth. Jonathan snorted and shook his head. There was very little Steve loved more than a plate full of food after a long day. Any kind of food. Years since getting together and Jonathan hadn't found very many things Steve wouldn't eat. Mouth still half full, Steve nodded and said, "I was right, it _is_ great."

"I'm glad you like it, now please finish swallowing before you get any of it on me."

Steve tried to stick out his tongue and open his mouth wide enough that Jonathan had no choice but to see the half chewed mess of it, and some of it fell back onto the plate. Jonathan laughed, unmoved by Steve's pout. He questioned his sanity—and his heart—when Steve picked that bit of food back up and finished it and for some reason Jonathan still loved him. What had he been thinking when he chose Steve to spend his life with?

Then Steve took his hand, rubbing his thumb across the tops of Jonathan's knuckles and he remembered that, right. He was actually pretty great. Even if he was gross sometimes.

Steve gave him back his hand and they ate in comfortable silence for a while. It was nice to spend a quiet evening together. He loved his family with everything he had, but he loved having time together for the two of them just as fiercely. 

Speaking of family, though, "Hey, when should I put in to get off for the reunion?"

Steve paused briefly midchew before chewing faster, taking a sip of water to help swallow it down. Jonathan raised his eyebrows. 

"Uh, about that," Steve said slowly. He pushed his hand back through his hair, keeping it against his neck when he reached it. "You won't need to do that."

"Did it get cancelled?" Jonathan asked, but got the feeling that wasn't the problem.

"Not...exactly." Steve let his hand fall back on the table with a thud. He winced at the sound. 

The Harringtons had a family reunion every spring, like clockwork. He had joined Steve for the last two, much to his parents' annoyance. Steve always assured him he didn't care about how his parents felt over it. He mostly went because it would be worse if he didn't go, and now that he had Jonathan at least he wasn't stuck there on his own. Jonathan wondered what had happened. 

"Is it your parents?" he asked, reaching for Steve's hand and feeling heartened when Steve didn't hesitate to take it. "If they don't want me to come, I could just skip this one."

Steve squeezed his hand, turning it over to run his thumb against Jonathan's palm. Even though he was still worried, Jonathan felt one side of his mouth lift up in a fond smile. 

"It's not you," he said, looking Jonathan in the eyes. "Okay? It's _them_. It was only a matter of time, really."

"Time before what?" Jonathan asked softly, but he thought he could probably guess and it took a lot not to let anger bleed into his voice. He wasn't mad at Steve and didn't want him to give him the chance to think so.

"Before they decided not to invite me anymore."

"Us, you mean."

"No," Steve said firmly. He leaned forward, picking up their joined hands and brought them to his chest. "This isn't you, this is about _them_ being pissed that their son is such a--"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Steve smiled and kissed the back of Jonathan's hand. "I'm not saying I agree with them," he said gently. "Just that they think since I'm not taking over my dad's company"—or with a girl from their country club, Jonathan thought unkindly but kept to himself—"I'm not worth inviting anymore."

"That's—" Jonathan cut himself off. He leaned forward, elbow on the table and pressed his free hand, curled into a fist, against mouth. It was bullshit. Steve's parents were...there wasn't a word for how much Jonathan hated them and with Lonnie Byers for a father, he knew plenty. 

"It's fine," Steve said. He shrugged when Jonathan gave him a _look_. Jonathan wondered how long he'd known about this to sound so unaffected by it. 

"It's _not_ fine," Jonathan insisted because Steve needed to know that it wasn't. That his family didn't get to just decide he wasn't worth it because he'd chosen a different path—a better, happier one—than what they'd laid out for him. Jonathan's dad was an asshole but at least he'd had his mom. She may have relied on him a little too much while he was a kid but he never doubted how much she loved him. 

Steve had never had anyone in his corner growing up. Jonathan had the insane urge to drive back to Hawkins to convince his mom to give Steve some mothering—not that it usually took much convincing when they visited. 

"I'm sorry," he said, finally. "They're your family, too. You should be allowed to go home."

Steve laughed. He took Jonathan's other hand away from his face long enough to pull him in by the collar of his shirt for a kiss. He didn't go far when he leaned back, that soft smile Jonathan loved to see on his face on display. " _You're_ my home."

Jonathan's throat went tight. Steve was kind enough not to say anything about the way he blinked to keep from tearing up. It wasn't a _surprise_. Not really. They loved each other, and had been open about it for a long time. They moved in together as soon as they could afford it and even when they fought, Jonathan hadn't regretted the decision once. He didn't know why it was affecting him _now._

Maybe Steve really was fine with being disinvited. They only ever went to the reunions to avoid the passive aggressive comments the Harringtons loved to make whenever Steve didn't do what they wanted. 

Jonathan cleared his throat. When he was sure he had gotten himself back under control, he smiled and asked, "So what week should I put in for?"

Blinking fast, Steve shook his head. "I just told you--"

"You did. And it just means that we can finally take a vacation that's just for us. No parents, no Hawkins. We can go anywhere we want."

Smile slowly stretching across his face, Steve raised his eyebrows with a little tilt of his head. Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"Okay not _anywhere_. But my point still stands. We can have a real vacation for the first time since...I can't even remember."

Steve cupped his face and gave him a smacking kiss. 

"I love you," he said when he pulled back, a bright grin lighting up his whole face. Jonathan couldn't help but smile back. The anger was still there but if Steve's parents were going to treat their son like that, they weren't worth putting the time or energy into holding onto it. 

They went back to their food, the pasta cooler but still good. Steve even managed to finish the bite in his mouth before he spoke, "We should visit Joyce. Before we go wherever we decide to go for vacation. She shouldn't miss out on seeing you just because my parents are jerks."

Jonathan's face ached with the force of his smile.

"Yeah," he said, knocking their knees together under the table. "Sounds good to me."

"Good." Steve trapped one of Jonathan's feet between both of his. Jonathan let him, feeling fond and even more in love than he'd been before. Steve's family didn't know what they were missing, but Jonathan and his mom and his brother were more than happy to pick up their slack.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Kudos and comments are appreciated <3


End file.
